Water supply and sanitation situation in an urban slum in Haiti

That was a nice update of your site visit and your Ph.D goals. The objectives of your Ph.D research seem very interesting and, when completed, will have long-term beneficial implications for urban slums and the rural areas. What is the topic of your doctoral dissertation, by the way?

The problems of urban slums in Karachi, Pakistan, are more or less, same as that of Port au Prince, you described. Land mafia is there. Water and sanitation status is not up to the mark. Drinking water quality is poor. Sanitation comprised of improvised toilets. They are unhygienic and breed insects. Hygiene aspect is nowhere to be found.

Water and sanitation in the rural areas of Sindh province (Pakistan) is poor. Here again, the drinking water quality is unwholesome. In one area, called Tharparkar (this is an arid, desert area), the fluoride levels in groundwaters is as high as 32 mg/l. WHO guidelines are 1.5 mg/l for fluoride. Due to this, the poor people are riddled with diseases of all sorts (from skin problems to paralysis).

No surface water sources are available in Tharparkar. A moving story appeared in a local newspaper, it reads:

“On July 18, 2010, a shepherd in Thar died while searching in the desert for his missing herd of cattle, due to thirst, as he had no access to drinking-water. His body was found at a place about 30 km from Chhor. In June 2010, a little girl named Kamli died in the Thar desert. Her mother had left the house to fetch water from a well at a considerable distance. Kamli followed her but found death, not mother, in the desert. Poor little girl had no access to drinking-water.”

This is despite the UN General Assembly resolution on 28 July 2010, on human right to water and sanitation. The relevant part of the resolution reads: “(UN General Assembly) declares the right to safe and clean drinking water and sanitation as a human right that is essential for the full enjoyment of life and all human rights.”

I have 2 questions for you. Are there any groundwater sources in Port au Prince?
Is it possible to recharge the groundwater by constructing small check dams (to hold water)?

Re: Water supply and sanitation situation in an urban slum in Haiti

Thank you for your nice and interesting comments. You seems to have collected a fairly good volume of information. That is great!

I'm attracted by the title of your Ph.D topic and, your research concept of mitigation flooding, sanitation and water supply problems in an integrated manner. I think, your Ph.D research is going to have a wide and beneficial implications in many countries, including Pakistan. I'll be anxiously looking forward to your dissertation and, please don't forget to email me a copy (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.), when it is done.